The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Government is proceeding with plans to establish a Central Revenue Agency (CRA) that will collect all taxes bar Customs duties, a Cabinet Minister saying that together the two departments would receive 90 per cent of all due revenues.

“There are currently more than 30 departments and agencies collecting a variety of taxes and fees for the Government,” the state minister for finance, Michael Halkitis, said yesterday.

“The present system of administration results in poorly developed functions such as registration, arrears management and audit. Compliance with the law for major taxes and fees is often weak. Significant revenue leakage is occurring, and compliance and enforcement results are minimal, partly due to the absence of an Agency with the legal authority to enforce the law and apply penalties for non-compliance.”

Mr Halkitis told a ‘Meet the Minister’ session hosted by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce & Employers Confederation (BCCEC) that the CRA will ensure compliance with tax legislation by providing efficient and effective services, and by conducting appropriate enforcement activity.

“The establishment of a CRA will address the critical structural deficiencies of the present tax system, will improve collections and will introduce a much-needed client service orientation, where services are provided to taxpayers that allow them to understand and easily access the information they require to comply with the law, and which promptly addresses their concerns,” the Minister said.

“The new CRA will have collection responsibilities for all taxes and fees not closely tied to the direct programme activities of another department. Where the taxes and fees are intrinsic to the activities of the particular department, that department will remain responsible for collection.

“As such, the CRA will be responsible for Stamp Tax, Real Property Tax, Business Licenses and taxes, Hotel Occupancy Tax, Casino Tax, and other Bank and Trust Company fees.”

Mr Halkitis added: “With this revenue administration reform, fully 90 per cent of all taxes, fees and service charges will be collected by either Customs or the new CRA.

“At this time, I can report that the CRA has indeed been established, and that an initial locale for its operations has been secured. The first sections of the CRA are slated to relocate to this new accommodation in the very near future.”

Mr Halkitis said the Government has also initiated a major transformation of the Customs Department with the assistance of the Inter-American Development Bank, which is focused on strengthening both management and operations.

“The overriding objective of this exercise is to improve the facilitation of trade while strengthening the ability of Customs to collect revenue and protect the borders,” he added.

“On the management side, efforts are being deployed to modernise the Customs institutional framework, the enhancement of its management capacity and the professionalism of its human capital.

“In terms of operations, the focus is on an upgrade of operational procedures, a cutting-edge automated system and the service-oriented technological platform, and programmes needed to increase measures of trade facilitation while balancing control and security.

“As a matter of policy, the Ministry of Finance is committed to eliminating all obstacles that discourage the on-line submission of Customs declarations within the the shortest time possible, and we will ensure that the resources are provided to Customs to accomplish this. These innovations will increase the speed and efficiency of Customs processing, and allow us to deploy our Customs resources more effectively.”